Duke Nukem 3D: Episode 1 – L.A. Meltdown

Lore & Background

The game picks up right after the events of Duke Nukem II, with Duke returning to Earth in his space cruiser. As Duke descends on Los Angeles in hopes of taking a vacation, his ship is shot down by unknown hostiles. While sending a distress signal, Duke learns that aliens are attacking Los Angeles and have mutated the LAPD. With his vacation plans now ruined, Duke hits the 'eject' button, and vows to do whatever it takes to stop the alien invasion. In Episode One: L.A. Meltdown, Duke fights through a dystopian Los Angeles, is captured by pig-cops, escapes an alien-controlled penitentiary, tracks down the alien cruiser in the San Andreas Fault, and kills an Alien Battlelord in the final level. He discovers the aliens were capturing women and detonates the ship.

In Their Own Story

The sirens wail over a burning Los Angeles. Duke Nukem, fresh from a workout and still in his tank top, steps out of his trailer to find the Hollywood sign replaced by alien glyphs. A pig-faced cop snarls, raises its gun, and opens fire. Duke grins, grabs his shotgun, and mutters, 'It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of gum.' The invasion has begun—and Duke is the only one who can end it, one explosive one-liner at a time.

Reader's Guide

As a first-person shooter whose gameplay is similar to Doom, the gameplay involves moving through levels presented from the protagonist's point of view, shooting enemies on the way. The environments are highly destructible and interactive; most props can be destroyed by the player. Levels were designed in a fairly non-linear manner such that players can advantageously use air ducts, back doors, and sewers to avoid enemies or find hidden caches. Duke's arsenal consists of the 'Mighty Foot' (a basic kick attack), a pistol, a shotgun, a triple-barrelled chain gun, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, pipe bombs, freezethrower and shrink rays, laser land mines, and the rapid-fire 'Devastator' rocket launcher. The Atomic Edition version also has an 'Expander', the opposite of the shrink-ray weapon. The 20th Anniversary World Tour version also has an 'Incinerator', the opposite of the freezethrower. Various items can be picked up, including portable medkit, steroids, night vision goggles, HoloDuke, protective boots, aqua-lung, and jet pack.

Did You Know?

• The shareware version was originally released on January 29, 1996, while the full version was released on April 20, 1996.
• The Plutonium PAK, an expansion pack that updated the game to version 1.4 and added a fourth eleven-level episode, was released on October 21, 1996.
• The Atomic Edition, a standalone version including the Plutonium PAK content and updated to version 1.5, was released on December 11, 1996.
• A fifth episode was released on October 11, 2016, with 20th Anniversary World Tour published by Gearbox Software.
• Duke Nukem 3D was developed on a budget of roughly $300,000, with a team of 8 people for most of the development cycle.